his colleagues which has been described as a conservative case for more revenue. at 8:20, we discussed the legislative agenda for congress with matthew cartwright. he is a member of the oversight and government reform committee. host: good morning. house members have returned to washington with votes slated later today for emergency aid for victims of superstorm sandy. new york is poised to become the first state to act in response to the mass shooting in newtown, connecticut, keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and banning assault weapons. president obama has in hand to the recommendations from joe biden on gun-control and will push for action. the front page of the washington journal says president obama escalates the fight on the w

economy. is the debt ceiling negotiable? your thoughts? send us a tweet or post your comment on facebook. you can also send us an e-mail. president obama held his last official news conference of the first term yesterday in the east room of the white house. here's what he had to say on the debt ceiling debate. [video clip] >> republicans and congress have two choices. they can act responsibly and pay america's bills or they can act irresponsibly and put america through another economic crisis. but they will not collect ransomed in exchange for not crashing the american economy.

the financial well-being of the american people well-being is not a leverage to be used. the full faith and credit of the united states is not a bargaining chip. they had better choose quickly, because time is running short. the last time republicans in congress even flirted with this idea, r. triple-a credit rating was downgraded for the first time in our mystery, our businesses created the few jobs in any month in nearly the past three years, and the whole fiasco added to the deficit. host: after the news conference yesterday, house speaker john boehner responded with this statement --

" what are your thoughts on this? if the debt ceiling negotiable. some quick comments -- remember, you can post your comments on twitter. the first phone call is from maryland, a democratic caller, jill. caller: i don't believe the debt ceiling is negotiable. it is kind of ridiculous that

the money is already owed, so why are we not going to pay what is owed to other people? if people have made investments, the bills have to be paid. i find it ridiculous that people in congress don't want to pay what is already owed. it does not make sense. host: here is the wall street journal this morning. caller: well, if you're asking me if that's true, i think there definitely needs to be somewhat of a compromise as far as spending cuts, but that is not

an easy issue, because spending cuts mean job losses. it's not an easy thing to say a president will say we will stop paying the bills too. so there has to be compromised rehab the debt ceiling and some degree of trimming the fat, but i don't know how that is going to happen with congress refusing to compromise. host: what about the president? he has said he is not even going to negotiate over the debt ceiling, it simply needs to be raised by congress. caller: if you already owed money and the president wants use to pay, you have to pay. i don't understand where the issue is. if you owe money, you have to repay that. this is a debt that is owed. it makes no sense to me. host: that is the argument the president made as well yesterday. now an independent from

arkansas, heath. caller: i don't think we should raise the debt ceiling. we should have across-the-board cuts. we spend too much money. people don't deserve a free food, phones, medical care. somebody has to pay for everything. they say i need money for this and that. the funny thing is the people in the state ultimately owe the money. we are the guarantors. we are the ones that'll all the money. we will have to stop spending. host: you agree with sequestration, something that could happen in two months, the automatic spending cuts across the board? caller: have you ever gone to the bank and they told you no? host: so you agree with it? caller: it's going to be hard, but we have too many people so accustomed to receiving a check from the government, the day is coming. we can either do it a little at a time or have it on us all at

once. we have through stops spending -- we have to stop spending. if we owe a debt, yes we should pay. but just because we told somebody if you want a free phone, we will give your free phone. we don't know that person a free phone nec's market. and we don't owe all these other countries foreign aid. host: so we should pay our debts first, if we're not going to raise the debt ceiling? and then some people will not get paid for certain services? caller: it means some people -- if you have a contract and an obligation, that's one thing. but just because you say i will give you some money next week, at the end of the week, if i don't have any money to give you, you're not going to get it. if i am not going to go borrow money from the bank to give it to you. host: here is a republican

senator in pennsylvania. he has a proposal, a bill introduced to require the treasury department, if the debt limit has not been raised, to prioritize the order that government bills are paid.

so we're getting your take on this. washington is going back and forth about whether or not there should be negotiations over the debt ceiling. steve in illinois, democratic caller. here is debtclock.org, showing that we have reached the ceiling, but we will run out of money in mid february or march. go ahead. caller: yes, i believe in a few things the previous caller said, about giving away free phones. i think people get food stamps

plus go to food pantries and get food and they have plenty of food. i have seen them sell their food stamps. there is a lot of waste and fraud and abuse in the lower portion. if you want to take a look and see the waste, fraud, and abuse in the military spending and so forth, it is on both sides of the poincoin. we have to take a look at both sides. today our soldiers are coming home in this wasteful war. they are killing themselves faster than they are killing themselves in afghanistan. host: that is a headline this morning, steve, in the papers. caller: we need to get these

veterans some help, too, so they stop killing themselves. it is -- you are drawing matchsticks to see which ones have the shortest ones. we do have to cut out some of the waste. we should go by waste first before we should go ahead and cut off programs. i am disabled. i need my check. i got run over eight years ago with a 100,000 pounds forklift. that made me a non-recipient of something. host: all right, steve. we will keep talking about whether the debt ceiling is negotiable. the politics in the nation section of the washington post,

or u.s. troops lost a suicide ban combat in 2012. record high of 349 deaths. that is a headline in a lot of the papers this morning. on gun-control, it's making the headlines in a lot of papers this morning. political reports that joe biden, white house ready is 19 executive actions on guns. the president indicated yesterday that he has indications -- as recommendations in hand and that he will look at them. there's a new gallup poll, americans dissatisfaction with gun laws spikes to 38%, 38% of americans being dissatisfied with the nation's gun laws scans wants them strengthened. if that is up from 25%. the wall street journal reports this morning, jill biden's gun goals have a wide reach.

in the washington post there's a new poll. and the new york times or rather new york state is poised to become the first in the nation to react to the newtown, connecticut, shooting. state senate yesterday approved legislation put forth by their governor and the house expected to vote on it today. the front page of usa today this morning is a lengthy piece.

two pages of the newspaper this morning dedicated to a state-by- state synopsis of gun legislation, what is happening across the country. the front page of the baltimore sun reports that governor martin o'malley will push for stricter gun limits. the paper noting that this puts him in position for a possible presidential bid, if he chooses to do so, if this would sit well with the democrats. we are talking about whether the debt ceiling is negotiable. the president holding his last official news conference of his first term. he will be sworn in on january 21 for second term. republicans in washington responding. chris in alabama, republican caller. hi, chris. caller: i don't think the debt

ceiling should be raised much further. all does is it will increase -- by not raising the debt ceiling, you should be able to raise taxes on the wealthy, making $200,000 a year or more. host: ok. anthony in greensboro, north carolina, independent. caller: good morning. i have done quite a bit of research on the debt. what i don't hear from anybody, whether from the politicians or people asking questions, is the fact that the united states over the last 10 or 15 years has overwhelmingly started bases all over the world. over 1200 bases. and i cannot get a direct answer to actually how many. each would bring in the amount of money well over $1 trillion

in just the maintenance. along with that, on the far side, after deep search, i discovered that the united states in the last eight years, since 1998, i believe, through nasa, they have come to believe in some kind of solar scenario along with an economic scenario and have been spending a lot of money in creating bases or underground cities in preparation, which is understandable, as any other nation, including japan and china have been doing themselves. host: next we will hear from a democratic caller, dan. if the debt ceiling negotiable? caller: it should not be. but if the republicans want to force negotiations, the president ought to prioritize by

not sending any money to the republican-controlled states in the south. if he has the priorities. my suggestion for future show might be to get a list of all the donor states and all the receivers states. these people calling from the red states that gets $1.70 for every dollar they get and always screaming about cuts, if you should ask them if they are willing to deduct 5% from what they send to the federal government and live on that. thank you. host: chris in chicago, republican, your thoughts? caller: i don't think the debt ceiling should be negotiable, simply because the president won the election, congress also won reelection. it should not be. it's under a false premise. if the debt ceiling is not raised, that we would go into default. that's not true unless tim geithner air this id will

actually follow the law and pay the service on the debt and collect more money in taxes. every quarter when corporations pay their taxes, he can pay the debt with that. he can pay social security and pay for the military and the current cwars and medicare and medicaid. beyond that, everything is up in the air. he can do the things that are required. simply because the president decides he wants it raised because it has been raised in the past for other people, that is like saying we will ever be responsible, because if you win an election, automatically get what you want. it does not work. you cannot run a country where every site gets whatever it wants just because they win. host: a tweet -- caller: it's not money already spent.

there's a difference between actual spending and proposed spending. when the democrats took over in 2006, they raised the limit of what they were going to spend on every single program across the board. they had total control of the house and the senate's for four years. they still have control of the senate as we speak. they raised the limits of what they're going to spend on everything, on a proposal. if we went back to what we were doing prior to 2006, we would be saving all kinds of money, but they are not. the democrats think, like the republicans, they think they automatically get what they want if they win an election. it's your independence, a democrat, or republican, you cannot run the country. it does not get you what you want. we have a constitution for a reason. follow it and spend on what we are supposed to. if we could all come together on agree on expending of things,

then we could do it. host: listen to the new york times reported this morning. you might be interested in this. you mentioned the treasury secretary.

a full-court press from the administration yesterday on this issue. what do you think? if the debt ceiling negotiable. from eugene, oregon, jed is independent. caller: my opinion is you cannot convince me there is not excess spending and that people cannot still get paid. the debt ceiling cannot continue going up. we wonder why the majority of the united states is in debt. it is because we are taught that by government. we cannot keep borrowing. an e-mail is going around that i've seen on facebook as well, saying its 545 vs 300 million. if both sides of the party don't like debt and they don't like

the deficit, then why do we have them? it's a pretty simple question. host: we will keep the conversation going throughout this morning, talking with two members of the house of representatives about their take on the debt ceiling and gun- control and other big-ticket items better up from debate in the 113 congress. on our facebook page, this is what folks are saying. jed in eugene, oregon, independent. i just spoke with him. i'm sorry. david is in kentucky, democratic caller. caller: yes, you do a good job. the last caller had it right. i remember when they increased

the national debt, doubled it. we are the only country in the world that has a ceiling. it is a scam. i remember alan greenspan saying it might not be a good idea to pay off the national debt. that was around 2000. obama, where he should do, if you could have a $1 trillion corn, make 16 of them, pay off the national debt, and go on about your business. host: now to jesse, republican caller in texas. caller: i just wanted to touch on a few things. i am kind of wondering about the debt ceiling. where they came up with this situation. it just does not make any sense, why they want to fool with other people's money whenever folks in the white house don't have to worry about their money and the big money people don't have to

worry about their money. they are going to get paid. but the little man -- i am disabled -- the little man has to worry whether they will get paid or not. and when did they come up with this electoral votes? it does not make sense to me. the republicans had it. then the electoral votes came up. host: one of the callers mentioned no other countries do this. here is an opinion piece in the wall street journal this morning --

so we are getting your take on this, whether or not you think ise debt ceiling limit negotiable. i want to give you some other news this morning as well. about hillary clinton, the secretary of state testifying before congress about what happens in benghazi, libya. here is a small piece by the associated press in this

morning's washington post. and in the washington times and the politics section, congress will vote on pork. the influential club for growth on monday said it will seek to punish lawmakers who support the 51 billion package because it includes wasteful spending that has nothing to do with reconstruction efforts in the northeast. and there will be several amendments to that legislation. we will have our coverage of the floor on c-span if you want to watch that debate. in an "new york times this morning, featuring marco rubio and his plan for immigration reform. the headline is that he pushes his party on immigration changes and is taking a leading role among republicans on proposals to overhaul the immigration system.

and evangelical groups are also pushing for changes to u.s. immigration laws. a small piece in the washington times. in other news this morning, on the supreme court, justice clarence thomas spoke and it made news, because he has not spoken in open court for nearly seven years. back to your phone calls, is the debt ceiling negotiable? tom an independent caller in michigan. caller: nice to be able to have

free speech on the airwaves on television. out right after they did that last tax hike on us, they said if we don't do something to control our unsustainable debt, they will downgrade us to aa1. if we had the dictator in chief to raise the debt ceiling and they don't do anything about spending, we're getting downgraded. he is working against the interest of the people by doing that. we have to do something about spending. host: people are saying there are several different fights happening. there's the debt ceiling, whether or not to raise the debt ceiling. some are talking about shutting the government down when the continuing resolution that authorizes spending for this government runs out, that he would negotiate then on this whole issue of spending cuts and new revenue.

and if you cannot get a deal, then you let the government shutdown. some republicans are laying the groundwork for that. then you have the sequestration that was delayed under the fiscal cliff deal. so there are more than one battle happening. where do you think the negotiations should take place? should be the debt ceiling or the continuing resolution to fund the government or sequestration? caller: the continuing revolution to keep the government going -- resolution. there are many departments we don't need. i was showing my grandchildr the debt clock, telling him how much money he would know when he becomes a taxpayer. he said he does not want to become a taxpayer. this is taxation without

representation. they have to get this under control. they need a dyiet. host: jason is a democratic caller in brooklyn, new york. caller: i think the debt is negotiable. it has been high before. host: what did you say? caller: it ought to be negotiable. i think obama needs to the finish his job. spending programs for poor neighborhoods and give other people a chance in this country. the tea party and right-wing republicans, it is obvious they are racist and nobody wants to work with them. in the next four years they have to get it right, because asians, hispanics, and african-americans

make up the majority of this country now. so they had better get it right. host: the new york times reporting that house republicans will meet for a retreat on thursday and friday in williamsburg, virginia, largely about plans do get through the three approaches fiscal deadlines. so there are three budget battles looming. senate democratic leaders are likely to act early next month on legislation that will allow the president to raise the debt ceiling both now and in the future.

that is the latest on what could happen over the debt ceiling. to be returning to all of you this morning. dave is a republican here in d.c. caller: i was just thinking that a lot of people really don't

understand what this stuff means in the simplest terms. a lot of folks have not been to college and don't have really good grasp on anything that has to do with politics. it is important that they understand what this entails. when you go to a casino, you spend the money in your pocket. when you are out of that money, you have to go on a line of credit. what happens to us as gamblers if we run up too much of a line of credit, to wipe it clean or do we get in trouble? we are facing the same situation on the federal level. people need to understand this money does not grow on trees and we will essentially turn out like greece. host: jason is an independent in las vegas. caller: good morning. are like to say today that i did not go to college but i understand this very well. $12 trillion was created by george bush with the two wars and a tax cut for the rich.

the debt ceiling is a joke, because they say cut spending. i want to ask everybody, cut spending means cutting food stamps, cutting social security, medicaid, medicare. so you want to hurt the poor? i'm understand you want to stop spending, but and you want the poor to what? how about because the senators and congressman, cut their pay until they get this done right? how about they don't get paid at all? my wife is on disability. she has kidney failure. we live in a right to work state in las vegas and are barely surviving. if the government shuts down, if

you want to hurt people, you would hurt so many people. if you want to shutting it down, that means no more food expenses, no more air traffic control. how about our service members? don't pay the service members? i salute every man that puts on his uniform. for them to say they should not be getting paid -- we have to take care of our debts first. host: let me jump in. you sound like you listen closely to the news conference yesterday. caller: i'm politics junkie c-span is my favorite. host: if jason is repeating some of the words and arguments that president obama made yesterday at the news conference, if you want to watch the whole thing, go to our website c-span.org in our video library.

he also mentioned george w. bush, his father, george h. w. bush, has left the hospital in houston after nearly two months of being treated for bronchitis- related cough and other health issues. we go next to baltimore, maryland, jerry, a democratic caller. caller: thanks for taking my call. the republicans are very high disingenuous, and i'm being polite. if anybody was listening to the defense appropriation bill at the end of last year, just before they let us go over the fiscal cliff, republicans added $20 billion more than what the president asked for for the defense appropriation bill. this is the 20% there are going

to have to cut during sequestration. now the defense department, if you keep the continuing resolution versus making a budget, they will get $680 billion this year. $20 billion more than what they ask for. yet they cannot pass a sandy bill. america, wake up. republicans that are in charge, and i guess you ququality party, they're just out to take our money. the poor and disenfranchised, they just laugh and say get a job, and they will not give you a job. host: on twitter -- in michigan on the independent line is terry. caller: good morning and thank

you for taking my call and for having a program. i just want to say that i do think, from the perspective of spending, there has been a lot of conversation on the bell avenue side and the president did not get what he wanted -- on the revenue side. but we never hear him talk at all about spending and reductions. i think if he would just change his focus to talk on that side as much as he talks on the other side, maybe there would be some movement of in terms of trying to reach some type of collaborative decision. that is what i think we the people in the states and on a local basis are looking for, is his leadership to really come at this from both sides. i do think you hear a number of people talking, with a on opinions, about spending or revenue raises.

but we need him to be talking about spending cuts, too. host: erick is next in glen burnie, maryland, democratic caller. caller: how are you? i am just saying that in 1999, before george bush got in office, everything was set. we had the right revenue streams, we have the right pay- as-you-go rules in congress, you could not spend any money unless you found money to pay, for pay and things were balance. in 2000, bush got in office and it all went out the window. it is like nobody can see that we had the right mix of revenue, the right mix of spending, and it all went out the window in 200 and that's when everything went haywire. -- in 2000.

we need to put the brakes back where they were then. the pay-as-you-go rules back in congress and go from there. the debt limit think is a farce. you've already spent the money, so pay for it. i cannot just not pay my credit card bill. that's the way i feel. host: banks for the call. stephen in texas, republican, hi. caller: hello. here's the thing a lot of people misunderstand. we live in a society today where information is readily available. to nots no reason for us utilize the technology we have at hand. we let the government to a lot of smoke and mirrors. there's no reason why we cannot pay a flat tax and get rid of a whole lot of government. they utilize bills and tricks to

separate us from our money. they're not trustworthy. anybody that thinks we have stressed representation, they're fooling themselves. we need to worry about doing something that is clear, people can understand. if we were doing a flat tax and people understood that, we would not to have this discussion about a debt ceiling. it does not make any sense to go spend money we don't have because we would not do it with our household budget or our business and we should not do it with our government. host: bruce is calling from tennessee. caller: thanks for taking my call. you never hear anyone in washington talk about cutting the amount of money we spend in other countries. everything they want to do, they

want to take away programs here in the united states. but the people here are really hurting and depending on them. we have a lot of money that we spend in other countries and we could get ourselves out of debt in a short time. the other thing, they will not pass anything in washington because special-interest groups are getting a bunch of pork in everything they tried to put through and it turns everybody host: against it how do you respond when people say foreign aid makes up a very small part of our federal budget, just a single digits, and that the real drivers are medicare, social security, medicaid, our defense budget? caller: if you add it all up, it's not such a small thing. there's quite a bit of it. what we need to do is reform the way we do our foreign aid. instead of just sending money to other governments to use as they please and line their own pockets, we need to reevaluate

each and every situation individually to make sure the money goes where it's needed. then if we have to make cuts and home also, i understand that. but we need to do it across the board everywhere we can. host: here is the "usa today with this headline -- bruce in tennessee, independent. i'm sorry. did i just talked to you? caller: yes. host: sorry about that.

we're getting your take on whether the debt ceiling is negotiable, a topic that we will continue to have with two members of congress of the house coming up. republican and democrat. we will speak first with representative scott rigell, a republican from virginia. later on, matthew cartwright, a democrat of pennsylvania. first we will take a little break and then we will come back. [video clip] >> he had been talking about this dream he had. he had talked about it for years, the american dream and that it had become his dream and he had been in detroit just a few months before and he had

talked about i have a dream and that america will someday realize these principles in the declaration of independence. so i think he was just inspired by that moment. >> on sunday, clayborne carson recalls his journey as a civil rights activist participating in the 1953 march on washington to a prominent historian and editor of martin luther king jr.'s papers. it's this weekend. debt deal entries with your message to the president are now doing. get them into c-span by this friday for your chance of the grand prize of $5,000. there's $50,000 in total prize s. -- prizes. >> washington journal continues.

host: scott rigell 6 on the on the armed services committee and the budget committee. you're talking about the debt ceiling debate. wall street journal says that president obama has escalated the fight. let me show you a little of what he said. [video clip] >> if congressional republicans refuse to pay america's bills on time, social security checks and veterans' benefits will be delayed. we might not be able to pay our troops or honor our contracts with small business owners, food inspectors, air traffic controllers, specialists who track down loose nuclear materials would not get their paychecks, investors around the world will ask if the united states of america is a safe bet. markets could go haywire. interest rates would spike for anyone who borrows money. every homeowner with a mortgage, every student with a college loan, every small business owner who wants to grow.

host: your reaction? guest: first, thanks for having me on the show, greta. i have owned the business over 20 years as an entrepreneur, have been looking at budgets for over 30 years. even now, as a businessman who has had a season of public- service, i have 150 employees in virginia. so this is not theoretical to me. the implications of reaching the debt limit. we have a serious economic problem with respect to spending and revenues as well. it really threatens the foundation of our republic. when the president says that we cannot negotiate that at all, i don't think that is the right position. i know over the course of this next however minutes we have, we will talk about spending reductions that have to happen. i've made the case that revenues have to come up

a bit. i have not seen the president have a balanced approach. host: so spending cuts should be part of any type of debt ceiling limit increase? guest: let me back of a moment. i saw this office -- sought this office because we are at risk because of our fiscal trajectory. it threatens every american. i ran on a platform of we have a spending problem and not a revenue problem. if you had me on the show back then, i would've looked you in the eye and said that and believed it. after i got into office and heard my democratic friends make the case from the floor so many times that revenues were not tight enough, i thought, let me either approve or disproved this spirit that to me on a journey of evaluating our budget and looking at historical data on the data- -- i'm a data-driven

person. it led me to the conclusion that we have revenue yield under the bush tax code of 16.9%. we have not run on that level of revenues since 1959 and before medicare and medicaid or on the table. so i knew we had a revenue problem. i was advocating the last couple months very strongly to my republican colleagues that having increases in revenue was not only not capitulation, it was a mathematical and conservative imperative. i was doing that believing that our president was out there going to help us with the spending side. he said we need a balanced approach. i support that. so when me and saw the bill that came before us on the years day, not only did not have any spending reductions, it actually elevated spending. that's why i voted against it. i am deeply disappointed in our

president. it is not partisan. he's my president. as a republican. he has had over four years and there's no leadership with respect to reducing federal spending. host: should the united states? default guest: absolutely not. no. the consequence of that that it, for our economy cannot be overstated. the sovereign debt of the united states, for it to be questions that we would pay our bills or not, is not a scenario that we want to go through as a country. that would really harm us. that said, as i was coming back on the train from new york, i shared this with those with me. i said you're going down this track at 130 miles an hour. what would cause the conductor, knowing that if he veers off on

this next rail to the right and pulled the switch that would cause that to happen, even if he knew it would put the train at severe risk by veering off to the right, what would be the only reason a person would go off that course rather than go straight? and the reason is that there's a larger cavern, kind of a grand canyon that we are about to go off. here's what i have concluded as a businessman and a seasoned public servant. the music will stop at some point with respect to where we are. when we are pouring $1 trillion a year, 40 cents on the dollar, you cannot do that into perpetuity. the time for leadership is right now. the time to address this is right now. i don't like being in this position of either. negotiating the either. i think what we need to do as republicans, we're going to williamsburg, as you know. if what we need to do is put forth what we stand for and to

pass what we believe in and bring that to the american people. and it needs to be credible, it needs to be logical, it needs to substantively address spending. host: in your opinion, what should happen? where do you picked a fight, over the debt ceiling or later on over the continuing resolution to? finance to? -- or the continuing resolution to finance the government? guest: i've only been here two years. i truly believe that when i ran and even more so now, we are a nation at risk. every american, regardless of political affiliation. so we have to reduce federal spending. this is the time right now.

some of my colleagues were saying let's get through the fiscal cliff and the real fight is the continuing resolution or the real fight is the debt limit. i hear that and it goes on. host: where do you insist on spending cuts? is that the debt ceiling or the continuing resolution? guest: it is that every point. host: all of the above? guest: yes. when the president says he wants a balanced approach, i believe him. i was looking for the simpson- bowles model, fighting for least 2 to 1. i was hoping for 1 to 1. i was disappointed and deeply surprised we did not get that in this fiscal cliff. here i was as a republican, so often introduced on tv shows and news shows, "coming up, a republican who says we need higher revenues."

an interesting way to introduce me, but my position is more nuanced than that, although i think we do need to get. host: new revenue includes four deductions and loopholes, but the president mentioned yesterday. is that still on the table? guest: it is for me. i thought that was the way to go from the beginning. eliminate loopholes and a lobbyist-britain loopholes. i also thought capping deductions, just knowing the nature of man, how we are motivated, that being able to keep an extra incremental dollar bill does motivate an entrepreneur or to put limited capital at risk. so i thought that was a better way to go. host: let's hear from danny in alabama, democratic caller. caller: thanks for accepting my call. i agree with you on some parts of what you are saying. but the time to negotiate a debt

is before you make it and not afterwards. all we can do now is a the bill rancic down and negotiate some spending cuts, which the president said he's willing to compromise on some of things. -- all we can do now is paid the debt down. you know what is driving the economy right now is some of the government's spending. if you start cutting too deep, all you will do is go back into recession. host: let's take that. guest: i'm glad you agree with some of the things. i believe there's common ground with democrats and republicans if we remember that we are always americans first and foremost, we will get through this. i've been making a lot of personal efforts to reach out and get to know my democratic colleagues. this is so important. it is really uncommon in

washington how little interaction and there is between members of the two parties. as i made clear earlier, i really think the time is now. it was the time i first got into office, i have been calling for expenses to come down. i'm proud of our republican party for putting forth the house republican budget. we have a definitive plan. danny, here's what i will share with you as a republican and i think you are democrats. i can put down on this table right here a definitive plan, one that you can evaluate that reduces federal spending. as we go to the president and majority leader of the senate and minority leader in the house, i truly don't know of a similar know-- the president had a press conference under couple months ago and in that press conference he basically said that we need to begin to take a look at how we are reforming entitlements. i thought that was a stunning

statement from the president after having been in office four years. i. need leadership from need leadership from our president on reducing spending. host: phil is on the line and louisiana. caller: maybe we need to look at citizens abusing medicaid. i have seen people on medicaid over and over who don't need medicaid. they are basically stealing. i have seen many people like you in office. and i'm from washington, d.c., originally. and i was in the military and number of years. i have seen a lot of politicians that are so crowded and all they do is line their pockets to become rich. i'm tired of all these people stealing from the government. we should start looking at some of these people. we both supported the president

and put him in office and should support him. guest: thank you for your service. my father was and it would jima marine, still doing great at 90 years old. -- iwo jima. i learned the principle of leadership by example at paris island. i returned over $52,000 to the bureau of public debt just the other day, i wrote a check for that, to give back a portion of my salary. i declined of all federal benefits, self-imposed term limits. i will not meet with a member of congress was a lobbyist. i think that's the right thing to do. i think you said we need to just get behind the president. where we can support the president, we do. it is very important for me to go where the facts lead us. when i hear my colleagues say we

have cut the defense budget, i really don't hold that view. i respect their view, but i don't agree with it. defense spending even now under the president has gone up albeit by a small amount. i'm not an i do try to go were the facts lead me. the president has not led with respect to reduce federal spending or how we reduce the growth in federal spending. in our plan, spending goes up a bit. we can find efficiencies within the department of defense. that can be done. we should address sequestration. i take at face value what the

chairman of the joint chiefs has said. this will harm our readiness and the jolt the economy as well. host: this question from john. the president tied those things together. guest: i wish that were entirely true. we have borrowed from the trust fund. the relationship is so complex. the basic point is that they are linked. just stop and get to the debt limit and do not raise it.

let's walk through that. we're saying we will balance the federal budget in a day. the next morning, what are we going to pay? should we pay the troops? what about those receiving medicare? what about social security? you can go down the line. t to not a good scenario -- it is not a good scenario. host: how do think this plays out? guest: it is going to be rough. there is not one person who knows how it is going to play out. i think we need to put forward what we believe in and give the

american people a credible alternative. what is compelling is something that is reasonable. i meet with democrats and they want federal spending to be reduced smartly and wisely. host: would you agree to raise the debt ceiling short-term? guest: i think that is say mathematical imperative. am i open to raising the debt ceiling? i am. we got into this wilderness over a long period of time. my deep duty to the second rational district of virginia -- we have the highest concentration of men and women

in uniform. we've got to make the decisions now. host: art in florida. caller: good morning. if you could give me a few minutes of your time. i am 47 years old and i depend on disability. heart.ta weak i have a pacemaker. my aorta has been replaced with a wire mesh tube. i have been trying to find part- time work so i can be a productive member of society. i keep hearing you want to cut medicare and trim social security and everything.

these are programs i need to survive on. guest: i'm sorry about your medical situation. is there that medicaid and for you. i believe there is it proper role for medicaid and medicare and social security. what we have been proposing is to strengthen those programs to make sure they are there for you. right now we know that absent any reforms, we are getting to the point that we will go bankrupt as a country. this is just as true as that the sun is going to rise. this is a critical time in our

country. we have to make some changes to protect people like you. some changes have to be made. host: susan is next in texas. caller: good morning. ut me off.'t come why don't they look for the fraud and abuse? work on the first. it is not it will lead soldiers that are getting the money. it has been the military industrial complex. as far as congress, look at the loopholes. you never think about that. if you do not know history, it

is going to repeat itself. guest: there is a lot there. i think there is validity to a congressional benefits. i have led it in changing that. the lead by example act. i believe strongly that you articulated in the policy. 403 (b) proourth three gram. you can receive that provided we reduced the federal deficit even by a dollar. we are not going to get out of this overnight. this would allow us to keep

reducing the deficits. we have a shared value in eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. we are intent on that. host: how much of the budget does waste, fraud, and abuse make up? guest: i could go back to virginia beach, virginia, and we could identify waste every day. we will never eliminate it entirely. we can do a better job. it will take reforms. we are living longer and we have fewer people paying in. i want to protect those who are hurting the most, like art, who called in earlier. host: lester is a republican.

caller: good morning. disability, 63 years old. my wife still works. $45,000 a less taw less than year. somehow someone is going to have to do something about this. guest: i agree completely. i believe it is immoral for one generation to pass on debt that dims their future. those who have served our country -- i am mindful of the

price paid by our goldstar families. we're failing the young people. i am with you. i was over it. i believe when americans are given good information, they will make good decisions. i made it clear to my district that revenue has to come up as part of a comprehensive plan. i was told not to said that before the election. they said, can you wait until the last date before someone can file a primary challenge. i said, no. they sent me back to have this privilege to serve.

revenue has to come up. expenses have to come down. ost: you did not re-sign the grover norquist pledge. guest: i don't think the pledge is good for our nation. i respect those with whom i disagree with then my conference and across the aisle. i am a data-driven person. i do not think the data supports this. it was lower than the overall level of spending we agreed to spend as republicans. that is what i call a structural defect in our platform.

host: i want to give you a chance to talk specifics. we have a tweet. guest: sure. i am proud of our conference and on that point in particular. we grabbed the third rail of politics. i was waiting for my democratic friends to join us. i believe we're all americans and we will make the right decisions. we put out the ryan plan. it takes 24 years to balance the budget. there is not a democratic alternative that i know of.

i hope this deeply resonates and sinks and with the american people. we have put particular is down as republicans. host: so the specifics are in the paul ryan plan? guest: they are. host: jeff is in florida. caller: hi. good morning, america. i look at problems and a simple level. use it the solutions solve more than one problem. when we have 45 million lost jobs, the budget goes up. when we have 3% unemployment, your budget goes down.

the american people do not know they could add to their everyday life simple things and each time america works together as a team, they can knock off one day of that $4 billion a day that we're spending. everybody hang a sign -- "turn off hot water heater." "turned on hot water heater" in the morning. that will save every american family $30 a month. guest: that is common sense. i like common sense. part of what we get out of this is to grow our economy.

we are americans. putting capital at risk and finding new ways to create goods and services that people wante. i introduced the mid-atlantic jobs act 2012. it opens up coastal virginia energy for energy exploration and harvesting. it would create 18,000 jobs. we're blessed with an abundance of natural resources in our country. we create tremendous employment and opportunity for inner-city kids that are hurting so badly. i and intent on the full fabric of our community crossing the finish line.

that means great schools and good roads. there is one thing standing in the way of us moving forward with coastal virginia energy and that is the obama administration with secretary salazar. we need to diversify our local economy in virginia. i hope we can work with both of our senators to get this done. host: we are talking with representative scott rigell. this is a headline in "the washington post." she talks about a new freshman class of republicans and your class as well that had been a headache for the speaker. there will be a test on tuesday.

where do you come down on this? guest: i think we have been good for the speaker. i am not dodging the questione. everybody needs to shoot straight. i do not know how i will vote on the particular bill. it has only come out in the last day or so. we have not anticipated and planned for these type of natural disasters. you would think we would have budgeted enough. either we're not done a good estimates or we are spending far more than we should.

i will be evaluating that. i know there will be some amendments. there are some things that i don't think most americans would not funded. therein lies the challenge. every bill we vote on on typically has some things that are good and some that are not. host: what have you been told the debate will start? guest: today. host: do you know what time? t it.: i have glanced ad the real votes, and around 7:00 p.m. ris in alabama has

this question for you. guest: hmm. well, the primary function of the government is keeping our people safe. it is a dangerous world. there are people that do not share our values and it would do everything they could to arm our people. now, there is waste, fraud, and abuse in the department of defense is a certainty. i know there are budgetary problems and accounting problems. i am fighting every day to eliminate that. i think we need to narrow the scope of the military.

meet -- i swam upstream to my conference on that. i think we should extricate ourselves from afghanistan sooner than most. at.votes reflect th i am not an isolationist. i think we need to eliminate overseas bases where possible. continue to look for savings. even if we can defense savings at the level it is right now, retirement costs and health care cost within the budget are going to put compression on everything else. host: it appears lawmakers in

afghanistan disagree with the idea of getting troops out of afghanistan earlier. this is the headline from "the washington times." guest: i believe our mission in afghanistan has been accomplished. i am proud of our forces. so many come from virginia's second congressional district. yemen, aattacked in horrific attack, does it follow we invade the country and tried to secure every linear foot of their border and thing that we're going to change an ancient people with ancient traditions?

it does not, in my view. that is really what happened in afghanistan. the good men and women who served and those who came out that were met at dover, i honor and respect their sacrifice. it was not without purpose. i don't think we need to continue to build infrastructure in afghanistan. host: bobby is up next. caller: the house of representatives and the senate -- you guys are the ones that spend the money. the president signs the bill or vetoes it. also, raising the debt now is

for mike the you guys have already spend. guest: you are factually accurate. any revenue bill needs to come from the house of representatives. spending can come from the house or senate and we work to that process. that's not what is occurring appear. iff,e go from cliff to cle it goes from one crisis to another. we're unable at present to agree on common ground that would meet the obligations that we have to art to make sure we secure and

strengthen medicare, medicaid, and social security. this has got to be done. i believe the way out of this is direct engagement between members of congress at the grassroots law of all. we can make a difference and advance ideas and proposals that in some ways it might even give our leadership some cover, a reason to be more flexible and advancing common ground solutions. host: william in alabama. hi, william. are you there? go ahead. caller: i have a comment to make. we spend six times more money on

the military than any other country. to say that we could cut support overseas, our troops and stuff like that, that's not the way to go. we need to cut our military. we are more advanced now than we have ever been. you fight with what you have. we have so much technology. it is unreal to spend all this money on the military and to say by cutting the military we can take that money and do our infrastructure with that. guest: i respectfully disagree with the overall analysis there. i think the alternatives and ideas i have presented with

respect to the military are valid. they really would help us. i'm not saying we should focus on medicare and medicaid and social security reforms to the exclusion of looking at the military. this is in a sound bite type of argument we are having. i think everything has to be on the table. i represent the congressional district that has the highest concentration of menan and women in the country in uniform as well as defense contractors. that could be considered a controversial position. is essentialing and needed and must be done.

this is what has to be done. reform of the military. that is part of it. reducing overseas bases has to be part of it. host: jean in new york. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. 75 years spending with the pentagon. i agree 100% with the previous caller. how much of your small business is involved with government contracts? guest: zero. i am a ford dealer. i have another franchise as

well. i don't think we're selling anything to the government. we may be. i do not know. it is negligible. if the implication is i am unwilling to cut something that would hurt my business, i will do whatever is necessary to set this country on sound financial footing. we cannot stay on this path. there is a day of reckoning with the amount of debt we have taken on. i will work with senator reid and my democratic colleagues in the house to advance a solution to arrest this trajectory that we are on.

host: tim kaine wrote a piece today in "the washington post, " "common ground on guns." what is your position? guest: i congratulate him on his victory and a look forward to working with him. i am a lifetime member of the nra. i hunt and i enjoy the sport. at the end of the day, this is not about hunting. americans have the right for private gun ownership. i believe in that and i will defend that.

i'm a grandparent as well. we have to evaluate to put herself in the position of those who have suffered the greatest loss in connecticut and work through it that way. i have deep concern about the government tracking private ownership of guns. the idea of a person who is mentally ill -- restricting the ability of a person who is mentally ill of getting a gun, i am wide open to that. i want to know how that's going to work. i am in a deliberately staged of

looking to see what works. i'm not interested in legislation that gives the appearance that we are doing something. host: are you open to a ban on assault weapons? guest: i cannot see how that will help us. i was in the marine corps for six years. look at the bushmaster, those type of guns. the mechanism is similar to what you might find in other guns. if you're given a beautiful gun and would beautiful wood stock, that is a family heirloom.

it can also be put in black plastic. some of it is functionality. host: tim is in california. caller: good morning. congress wants to save money, all these riders on these various bills -- $17 million has nothing to do with the storm damage bill. look it all the bills in congress and a continues like this. we're going to give the hollywood people some extra money. we'll worry about subsidizing the wind. i think there's a lot of waste. m, you are right.

we want to make the congress open rules. we'll have a lot more amendments that cut specific areas of funding. i have heard there is some funding for some fisheries somewhere in alaska. i do not know that is true or not. i will figure that out. the underlying bill is good. i'm all for eliminating the pork. that is the process i will be going through. you are right. every time we can reduce federal spending, i vote to do that.

that is what i told the second district of was going to do. host: that debate will take place on the house floor today. keep your channel here on c-span if you're interested in that. thank you for talking with our viewers. guest: thank you so much. host: we will come back and talk to matthew cartwright. >> 8:33. newt gingrich says house republicans are making a mistake by using the debt ceiling to challenge president obama on spending issues. "it is in losing proposition and a threat they cannot sustain." he also says republicans have t

wo much better arenas for a fight including a budget sequester. he said president obama is trying to bully house republicans. as the president and congress continue talking about the spending limit, the united states could lose its top credit rating if there is a delay in raising the debt ceiling. a managing director says he is worried about a crisis and warns a failure to raise it in time will prompt a formal review of the country's aaa rating. congress has to increase the debt limit by march 1 or face a potential default. chelsea clinton has signed on to promote the inaugural event and

to get americans involved in serving their country. she is being named honorary chair of a national day of service. president obama is calling for americans to honor the legacy of martin luther king jr. the inauguration takes place on monday. c-span's live coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. that morning. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. [video clip] >> he had been talking about this dream he had. he had talked about it for years, the american dream and that it had become his dream and he had been in detroit just a few months before and he had talked about "i have a dream" and that america will someday realize these principles in the declaration of independence. so i think he was just inspired

by that moment. >> on sunday, clayborne carson recalls his journey as a civil rights activist participating in the 1963 march on washington to a prominent historian and editor of martin luther king jr.'s papers. it's part of three days of book tv this weekend. monday, featuring authors and books on the inauguration, president obama, and martin luther king, jr. "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome a new face to the table, matthew cartwright. thank you for talking to our viewers this morning. let's get to the fight about the debt ceiling. we heard the president yesterday. there was this response. what is your take? guest: the overall feeling of

that is true. the american people want to see the government be responsible with their money. everybody understands that. if you tell the american people what it means when you monkey with the debt ceiling, they are going to realize this is not the way to go about it. it is fair game to debate what our government spends money on and where it is spent. those things are all fair game for debate. that is what the constitution wants us to do. when you get down to the debt ceiling, the debt ceiling is about whether you pay your bills. the united states pays its bills.

that is all the debt ceiling debate is about, whether we agree to pay bills the week incur. when the bill comes, you do not say, "it's time to bring in spending so i'm not going to pay you." what happens when consumers do that? it ruins our credit rating. your credit score goes down. that makes it harder to get a loan. if you do get a loan, the interest rate will be higher. it is the same thing with the federal government. if we default on our

obligations, people notice that around the world. what we saw last year was when we have the same thing happened , a budget debate around the debt ceiling, we took a hit for our national credit rating. that was damage to america. the same thing happens to our nation if we get a credit downgrade. the interest rates go up. i have heard from a top republican economic adviser. he addressed us at the crs seminar in williamsburg, virginia. this was a three-day seminar in williamsburg. we heard from top experts.

i am grateful for having been invited. one of the top economic advisers for presidential contender john mccain. we absolutely cannot use the debt ceiling limit to argue about what goes in the budget. he says you cannot hold the debt ceiling hostage because you cannot shoot the hostage. the hostages be the american economy. that is what would happen. if we default on our obligations because of failing to raise the debt ceiling, we are going to suffer a further downgrade of the united states credit worthiness.

interest rates will go up. think about what happens to our economy when interest rates go up. it means that companies have a harder time investing in capital equipment. business people have a harder time planning for the future. it would take a fragile recovery and jeopardize it. host: the next fight which president obama said he is open to talking about, more spending cuts and more tax revenue has to be on the table during those talks. let's say it doesn't happen on debt ceiling. where would you agree to spending cuts on the medicare and social security? guest: they are way down on the list. of buy li my

i will not agree to balancing the budget on the backs of people who can least afford it. people have paid into these programs and they do not deserve to have the government turned their back on them and start cutting these programs in the name of balancing these programs. these are programs -- nobody is getting rich on social security. have a staggering number of people who exist on their social security benefits, which they earned over their lifetime of working. cutting spending and focusing on social security is a huge mistake. host: you are serving on a task force to look at different

legislation on gun control. this task force will present the recommendations in february. guest: i was honored that i was selected to that task force. i will be on that task force because i came out in favor of gun safety laws well before the newtown shooting. it was this past summer after the aurora shooting. the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over again and to hope for a different reaction next time. after something like aurora and newtown, we have to do

something. we intend to have hearings and hear from a broad spectrum of people on the subject. not just limited to gun safety laws. a broadening focus to include increased funding for mental health programs, which is a large part of the problem. trying to do something about caring our american culture of gun violence. there probably are some options there. we'll hear from people in the gun industry, gun dealers, manufacturers, people in the entertainment industry. some accountability ends up in hollywood for the culture of gun violence. host: 20 in new york -- tony in

new york. are you with us? caller: hi. thank you for taking my call. to hear what the representative is saying. there are a lot of points that i agree with. i believe the deficit should be paid. there seems to be no jobs that can bring in more revenue. i run a small company of rental properties. i've watched people go through hard budgets. unless there is more job creations in the united states -- jobs that were lost over the years going overseas -- i do not

foresee any way within the next few years that these jobs will be here with windmills and solar panels. you can bring more revenue and more jobs into the country. i just do not see it happening in a short time. guest: that was a great point. the key there is the jobs. we need to focus on this fragile recovery. unemployment is too high. that could go up and it will co- op if bad things happen as a result of fiscal cliff and

budget negotiations right now. if interest rates go up, that unemployment figure is going to go up. if we don't do something about the sequestration bill, if we do not about to the drawing board and spending cuts that are slated to go into effect as part of the sequestration, we are looking as many as 1 million lost jobs because of sequestration which cuts spending across the board, including the military. the point about jobs that you are trying to make is that the way to cure a lot of the revenue problems and the deficit problems that we have, the way to extend out the doomsday

deadlines for medicare and social security, the way to fix a lot of those things is in revitalizing the american economy. you get more people paying into social security. more people on the tax rolls. let's focus on keeping the american economy healthy. there is broad agreement that we have to be responsible for the money that the government raises and spends in this country. the main stumbling block is where do you do it and when do you do wouit? we can do anything drastic when unemployment is at seven. %-- 7.8%.

host: christine is next. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. we need to use common sense. he did not spend more than you are taking in. for the bills that you make, you have to have the money to pay for it. do not make bills. guest: you have to be responsible with money. that is one thing i've said through the 2012 campaign. look back to a time when we were able to balance our budget. who did that? it was the congress of the 99's under the bill clinton administration. they did it with spending cuts

and revenue increases. we had ahe 1990's, combination of things that led to a balanced budget. i think being responsible with our revenue and how we spend it is something all of america is focused on. look what happens when the government is responsible with its revenue. you have the business community living at the government acting responsible with the money. what happens? it means that confidence develops. confidence is such a key ingredient of economic recovery. the stock market went through

the roof during the recovery. people got wealthy because of the rise of the stock market. the stock market rose because people had confidence the government was being irresponsible with money. host: we are talking with congressman matthew cartwright, democrat from pennsylvania. he served as an attorney for 24 years. a law degree from the university of pennsylvania law school and representing the state of pennsylvania in the house as well. ent from kennm weeks. let me add to that.

guest: ok. that is a boatload of questions. you're talking about fraud in medicare. that is something you have to look at. the holy trinity of waste, fraud, and abuse is something you'll hear from every member of congress. there is no excuse for those things. i intend to look at those things. even beyond the question, controlling health-care costs is something we have to look at in this country. so much of what we spend it is attributable to increases in health-care costs. we need to get some of the sharpest minds engaged in

focusing how we can bring down health-care costs. host: means testing for medicare and social security. guest: tinkering with medicare and social security is appropriate. right now there's a cap. $110,00, youe know longer contribute to the social security system. i see no reason why we should not raise that substantially. these are people that have the ability to pay into the system and should pay into the system. otherwise it becomes a regressive system if you cut off

right now. host: what about raising the eligibility age? guest: i am not in favor of that. i come from a gray district in pennsylvania. nobody is getting rich on social security. raising the eligibility age is probably a bad move. caller: i wonder if they can come to an agreement on the fiscal cliff -- how are you going to solve our debt crisis? i did not think congress should get paid. it is not fair.

the taxpayers have paid. guest: that is a fair comment. there is a lot of talk about the low esteem in which congress is held. it is important to me as a new member of congress. i'm only one of 435 people in the house. i am honored to the been selected as one of the four presidents of the incoming class of democrat freshman. we have 49 of us, a quarter of the minority caucus in the house. i got broad agreement from democrats and republicans that we need to get together.

i have made strides in that direction. i want to name my other co- presidents. . good friends of mine. john delaney from maryland. agreed we should be meeting regularly with our counterparts in the republican party. if both sides are off and their corners looking away from each other with frowns and their arms crossed -- that is no way to run the government. getting together is something we have promoted. my counterpart from indiana, a , we havejob womgentlemen

started plans to get together. host: no labels, there was a meeting yesterday it contemplating the question -- why does america hate us? a recommendation they were talking about is that congress work five days a week instead of 3 or four. guest: i guess it is terminology what counts as work. host: work in washington and not back in your district. guest: worked in the district is still work. i intend to do a lot of that. there is a lot of work to be done in the district. i intend to spend a lot of time

in pennsylvania. tour.ing a listening that is a very important job of a congressman. i agree that more time in washington means more time together in social settings. it is hard to demonize people that you know very well. host: not paying congress if they cannot pass a budget. banning the signing of any pledges. caller: good morning. thank you for taking my call. i think this waste, fraud, abuse think can be attributed to congressman trying to keep their jobs by promising constituents the country cannot afford. it isn't senator carl levin's

committee being talked about with the corporations keeping their money offshore and staking its back into the country? that is a revenue loss. we need to think about how the greed in this country is bring this country down. guest: i think it gets category the the broad heading of closing tax loopholes. h&m be an expense that companies can write off -- it should not be an expense that companies can write off when the move jobs overseas. it is easy to talk about jobs and geography. what it boils down to at the

very end is that real people are suffering. when somebody gets fired, it is also about what that does to families and relationships and self esteem. we have to host: dan next, salem, ore. caller: i think there is a pretty easy solution with social security and medicare. the low and will consume 100% of our gdp. many look at the figures that social security in february will

be 61% payout. i am being taxed at 6.2% social security and 2% medicare. something is definitely going to have happen. even though i'm a republican, i understand elections draw consequences, so to keep things at the level at which would like them, we are going out to raise taxes and people are going back to start paying for what they want. guest: absolutely. these are items that people have been looking at ever since the program started. one thing you always see are these doomsday date. right now, i think social security has a doomsday date of 2024.

they always change with the amount of revenue coming in to the program. they change with the amount of people receiving the benefits. they change with the things like interest rates. they change with how the economy is doing. they shared with the unemployment rate. unemployment is the key. the lower we can get the unemployment rate, the more people will be paying into social security and more solvent it becomes. the other point i want to make is they have always been around since the inception of the program. it's nothing new. it is just accountants figuring out when the day is that those programs cannot afford to pay 100 cents on the dollar. the day when at the start paying 99 cents on the dollar is when the doomsday is set. those are fluid and they get

extended out in the recovery of the lower we can bring our employment rate, the further out those dates are. my advice is not to panic and let's get our american economy roaring again. the better our economy is doing, the further down the list the danger is to social security and medicare. host: and dennis, independent, michigan. caller: if president obama does not get his way and he said on the television that social security checks and are veteran checks could be delayed, my question is if hours are delayed, who is paying for his

security, the white house staff, that what protect him? will his people be delayed? or is it just the lower end? i want to know if it is a one- way street here. >> guest: if we do not get past the fiscal cliff issues. we do not rethink can go back to the drawing board are sequester -- on sequestration, yes there could be delays in veterans benefits, social security. they go from the theoretical to the real wants the fiscal crisis hits. what president obama was saying was that we need to take these things seriously. we need to roll up our sleeves and get the job done. if we do not, real people are

going to get hurt. host: democratic caller, james. caller: on american cars sold in foreign countries, they sell and charge taxes. the american car industry is is what really kept us afloat. i do not believe the government charges any taxes on cars sold in to this country anyway. if it is a foreign car, there is an additional tax to keep people buying american cars which would keep this deficit down and would pay down the deficit. guest: i like the point you are

making. a very close friend of mind in scranton is a jeep dealer. and he was going to sell a cherokee in beijing, it costs about $100,000 which is outrageous. they add all sorts of import and do the fees and that just will not happen here. we need to rethink some of these trade imbalances. for example, of the note to the big box retailer and you can see the big box retailers and the countries that do not have strict labor laws, workplace

safety laws, environmental regulations to protect, in a sensible fashion, the economy. foreign countries can sell them cheaper the in this country and i think that applies to automobiles as well. maybe the way to have these sensible regulations is to have a sensible tax along the line you are talking about. host: we are talking with freshman democrat from pennsylvania, rep cartwright. next caller. caller: the definition of the fault is not being able to pay your bills. -- the definition of default is not being able to pay. interest is, what, $600 billion.

i have a limit on a credit card. let's say imax out that credit card limit. does the credit card company then say they should give me a higher limit so why can pay off what ever the limit was before that i have reached? no. what yound more than are taking in. congressman, am i wrong on any of those points? the further question would be i lost it. guest: on the second point, you're absolutely right. you talk to be irresponsibly with your money. when you go to buy things, you need to think about your budget. can i afford this?

will it push me back? am i living within my means? every sensible american asks these questions with their own finances and the government does to. -- government does, too. you talk about that when you incurred the debts and not win the bill comes. when the bill comes, you have to pay it. argue about it when we decide to make the purchase, not when we go to pay for something we haven't heard. the united states of america pays their bills and they pay on time. as long as i'm in congress, i will vote to make sure that happened. host: independent caller from pennsylvania. turn the television down. i will put you on hold. democratic column from colorado, hello -- excuse me.

louisville, kentucky, and dependent caller. caller: would like to welcome representative cartwright to washington, d.c. i am so happy to have you there representing the american people and i just want to encourage you to stay moderate and be fair, as you appear to be come and vote your conscience. i want to call your attention to what it consistency -- one inconsistency. he did not realize when he was running in the primaries that president obama had proposed over $1 trillion in cuts and spending in he did not realize that until he got to washington. i want to commend representative cartwright for being consistent in caring for the people back, and now doing that in d.c. hopefully you get to know a

wonderful representative from kentucky and you two can work together. i just want to encourage you. guest: thank you for the comments, jim. i will do you want better. i have already met john yarmuth, and i consider him to be one of my mentors in congress. we have regions in the democratic caucus and the congressman is the representative for our region, which happens to be region 10, pennsylvania, ohio, west virginia, and kentucky. he is the representative for region tend, the democratic hearing and policy committee. i have had several meetings with the congressman. i like his style. i like the way he displays himself. i like the way he sticks up for his constituents. it is possible to stick to your guns, stay with your core principles, and still be

personable, friendly to people who do not necessarily agree with you. that is one thing i have come to washington to do, be civil with people who do not agree with me. i will give you an example. i'm going to be meeting with a number of freshman republicans to have some ideas about entitlement reform, as they call it. they know full well that i come to washington bound to stand up for social security and medicare, veterans' benefits, programs that are vital to my district in pennsylvania and helps so many seniors and veterans, disabled people. they know i feel that way, but i'm going to that meeting because these are people that are like. i have struck up a friendship from a republican representative from myrtle beach, south

carolina. me, my wife, he and his wife have all become friends. we disagree on so many things, but we plan to get together regularly. tom has invited me golfing. no doubt we will not be able to play the amount of golf that the house speaker is able to play, but as a freshman we do what we can. i very much look forward to getting to know all the republicans. we are all americans in this. we need to roll up our sleeves and get the job done for the american people. we will not agree on everything, but at the end of the day of the, if you can get along, get to know each other, we will be doing a much better service for the american public. host: a few more phone calls. tony, modesto, calif.

caller: i guess obama thinks that all of his people are stupid and that he cut this and that. we know you guys did not cut anything and that's the problem. he counts on voters being stupid and the people who voted for him are stupid. that's the problem. know there is a question there, but i certainly disagree with every single statement he made. host: democratic caller, george. caller: i was really glad to see that it was not crazy earlier in the segment. a caller from new york plainly put it out there that the issue we should be addressing is jobs. in the run-up to the 2010 election, president obama was far as the lee asked from republicans, where were the

jobs? then they did the historic sweep into the house, suddenly the issue became the debt and jobs just went out the window. probably one of the greatest bait and switches in history. host: let's talk about jobs, congressman. guest: greta, as i have said before, jobs are the key. you address the jobs question first and so many other things fall into place. it's ironic. it's like supply-side economics that we heard during the reagan administration. you cut taxes, increased economic activity, increased revenue. it's the same idea. if we bring jobs back to this country, lower the unemployment rate, so much more money gets paid in to the federal

government in revenue without having to drastically raise rates on anybody and so much more money it paid into social security and medicare that the health of those programs is bolstered significantly. i agree. jobs is key. host: that you cartwright, thank you so much for joining us and talking to "washington journal." when we come back, we will open up the phone lines, but first a news update from c-span radio. >> the commerce department says retail sales rose 45% in december from november and u.s. consumers increased spending at retail businesses, buying more automobiles, furniture, and clothing. the solid gains as evidence that they kept spending despite the debate in congress over tax increases. falling buddha and gas costs pushing down the wholesale

prices for the third month in a row, the latest evidence that inflation is king. this follows a decline of 0.8% the month before. the index measures price changes before they reach the consumer. low inflation means consumers have more money to spend which helped the economy. and also gives the federal reserve more room to keep interest rates low. an update on the situation in mali. defense secretary leon panetta speaking earlier a press conference in lisbon's as the united states has ruled out putting any american troops on the ground in mali and they are hoping the french will succeed in establishing better security for the west african nation. the united states is providing intelligence gathering assistance to the french on their assault on islamist extremists. they are not ruling out having

american aircraft land to land a logistical support. secretary panetta says the united states is still working out the details of the assistance they will provide to france. this news conference came after french forces led at all might bombing campaign across the north in an effort to root out the extremists who seized control of a large part of the region about nine months ago. wal-mart stores, the largest retailer in the world and the largest private employer is making a pledge to hire every veteran who wants a job. the plan is set to be announced in new york today at the annual retail industry convention by the president and ceo of wal- mart's namesake. more than 54,000 mexicans have signed a petition calling on the united states to take further steps to combat weapons

trafficking. the majority of guns used by the violent drug cartels are smuggled over the border. the best known anti-violence activist presented the petition at the u.s. embassy on monday. 70,000 people have died in mexico because of drug violence since 2006 according to the written copy of the speech presented by the secretary of the interior of mexico. the issue of gun violence with the main focus in the state of new york following the state of the state address by the governor last week. new york lawmakers are agreeing to pass the toughest gun control law in the nation and the first since the newton, conn., shooting the. governor cuomo plans to approve the legislation this morning. last night, the state senate passed it and the assembly is expected to approve it this morning. it calls for a tougher assault weapons ban and restrictions on

ammunition. it requires mental health workers that make credible threats of gun violence. cuomo speaking last night said, "this is a surge on society." of the bipartisan effort was fueled by the tragedy. vice-president biden is expected to give his report on gun violence to the president today and we will keep you updated on that story. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> student cam entries are now do. for your chance at the grand prize of $5,000. for more details, go to studentcam.org. >> he had been talking about this dream he had and he was talking about for years, the american dream, and it would become his dream. he had been in the detroit is

the few months before and he had talked about, i have a dream. that america will someday realize these principles in a declaration of independence. i think he was just inspired by that moment. >> sunday, claiborne carsten on his journey as a civil rights activist participating in the march on washington to prominent historian of martin luther king, jr.'s papers. monday, authors and books on the inauguration, president obama, and martin luther king, jr. host: welcome back. for the last 40 minutes or so this morning, we are opening up the phone line than you can call in on any public policy debate that have been happening recently, this week. the sand the relief bill, the debt ceiling, gun control -- sandy relief.

the numbers are on your screen. also twitter.com/cspanwj. facebook.com/cspan. first, a staff writer for "the hill." mr. watson, walk us through the agenda for the house. the senate is not in the house is back. what are they doing? aest: they're going to do reading of the constitution. when did the republicans took over the house in 2011, as far as their clients to america, they are doing that. in the act and noon and evening, a debate on the hurricane sand the relief package, a $50 billion package -- sandy relief.

after a dramatic meeting yesterday, 92 amendments will be ruled on in order so there will be some men met debate. -- amendment debate. they basically got very angry about the possibility of some of these amendments being offered. right before the last congress ended become a january 2nd, speaker boehner promised that he would move the bill quickly after pulling it from the bill -- floor in the wake of the cliff vote. host: erik watson, do they have

the votes for this next round of relief? guest: they say they are confident, but most likely they do. they have at least 14 republican lawmakers from the northeast and probably all the democrats. most of the appropriations committee is behind this bill. they crafted it. there are no earmarks or pork. some of the minor amendments, the weather service did other things people view as not sandy related may pass, but they are not viewed as killer amendments. the key want to look for it will be water from moldavia south carolina-- will be mulvaney from south carolina. the bill is 2 pieces.

he is off setting the $17 billion with an across the board cut, so it will be interesting to see. all democrats will vote against it. they are sharing the principle that emergency spending needs to be offset with cuts. freetown there is a disaster, the republicans will use it as an excuse to go after social progress about will be an important precedent. but that does get in, we will see a house-7 conference on the bill and probably the laying that action. host: "the washington times" are claiming they will punish members to vote for legislation. guest: heritage action and other

groups, the annual scorecards, and when people run in primaries, they have to look at these readings from these conservative groups. if they vote for this, they will get their number go down. you would expect there to do that. there are a number of coalition groups that are against it. host: our cameras will cover the floor when this debate will take place. let's move on to what happened yesterday in the president's last official news conference of his first term, the debt ceiling debate. "the wall street journal" headline this morning is that he has escalated the fight.

how will republicans respond back their leaving later this week for a retreat. going out toe virginia for the end of the week and the weekend. what is on the agenda is the guys have a house bill to raise the debt ceiling and pare its with entitlement or other spending cuts. there are differing theories about how long it will be for. we have heard a few months, we have heard four years. there is a principle they are using, an equal amount of deficit reduction for the amount that the debt ceiling is raised. if you're going to raise it by $4 trillion, we're talking about massive reforms along the lines of the paul ryan budget which cut $5 trillion in spending. medicaid, food stamps. i don't think they would put in

a voucher system or premium support system for medicare. that was pretty much trounced during the election, but we will see. you need something with big numbers. more likely it is a space smaller debt ceiling increase. we also have to decide about what to do about two other fiscal cliff that are looming, the sequester cuts that had been off for two months in the continuing resolution. the government runs out march 27th. there is some thought that republicans would be more willing to use that weapon to try and force cuts because of the government shut down. appropriation has been working on different things to act quickly of leadership decided they did not want to use that weapon to pass a full-year bill.

host: your report that the white house has told paul ryan, house budget chairman, that this budget will be late missing the deadline. guest: we were start to -- we were going to be starting the 2014 spending as i go with the submission of the president's budget. they told paul ryan on friday that he will not make that. there is going to be things coming in march or later giving them a bother. the reason given is the fiscal cliff deal. the budget cycle is just months and months of agency planning, back-and-forth of the office of

budget management and that is the official region -- the official reason is a mini that in the middle of the debt ceiling fight. it is a wild card and the negotiation. we will have to see. host: erik watson with "the hill," thanks. we put that on the table for your house well and we will open the phones for the last 30 minutes. what are your thoughts? amin, democratic caller. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am a disabled vietnam veteran who was a medic in the military and i am 40 years to the day being treated for ptsd and it is not from the war but the injuries that i saw from assault weapons.

the ak-47, the weapon of the vietnamese, and the m-16, our weapon that the vietnamese were somehow able to get a hold of. my first thought is to the first responders. i would like to suggest to all of them to get as much help as you can because i can imagine what you saw when you went in there. it is something that will trouble you for the rest of your life. get as much help as you can. host: in response to newton, connecticut? next caller, lansing, mich. you are on. caller: i would like to give a little history lesson to the audience. in 1992, i was a member of the uaw wrecking for general motors. they came around and asked to vote for clinton because if we did not, bush was going to give us a trade agreement.

in 1993, president clinton passed nafta. in 1996, president clinton and the republican party got rid of the glass-steagall act which separated the investment and commercial banks that have been in effect for 66 years. in 1997, the democratic president and a republican congress allowed china in to the world trade agreement with free trade to the united states. these things should be brought up. we need to bring back glass- steagall. most importantly, our country has to simplify this tax system. i have dealt with the irs for five years. the irs will tell you they do not even understand it. they say is over 72,000 pages

long now. it is just ridiculous. if i was king for a day, i would some in congress and within 30 days they would give me a federal tax system they could recite or i would charge them with treason. i preach the time and i appreciate c-span. -- i appreciate the time. host: houston, taxes? -- texas? one last time. caller: i had my phone on mute, excuse me. host: you are supposed to put the television on huge, not the phone. go ahead. -- tv on mute. caller: to rep cartwright, i really did appreciate listening to him and i appreciate his representation. i hope that you have more representatives here from the houston and taxes.

to come on. listen to them. here in texas, gov. perry has just rejected a lot of the assistance that would have come here and to texas. he is a republican and he believes that the money should not be accepted. when we look at the numbers of the large corporations here from oil refinery, the jobs and the large amount of layoffs that have been made from 2008 until today, the numbers are large. it seems like to me that there should be a time when all of these companies are laying off and let's see these numbers. bring these large corporations

talking about cutting medicaid, cutting the assistance given to the poor. let them show the numbers. let's see all of these statistics on the layoffs that they have done. i. everyone needs to see these numbers and question them why. -- i think everyone needs to see these numbers. a lot of this house to do with jobs. they were increased, we would not have to worry about the deficit as much and we would not have to listen to them talking about cutting social security for all of the senior citizens and the disabled. let them show why they are laying off all of these people. host: the front page of politico this morning.

politico.com. there is also a lot on gun- control in the papers today. they are also report an that vice-president biden are readying about 19 executive actions on guns. a lot of polls out. 38% of americans are dissatisfied with the gun laws and think they should be strengthened. abc news poll found 52% of americans say the shooting has made them more supportive of gun-control and 5% say they are less apt to back tighter restrictions. the vice-president saying yesterday the recommendations are in hand and they will talk about them later this week in public. front page of "usa today."

inside, they do a state-by- state, two pages worth of synopsis on where they stand on the state level. next to arizona, democratic caller. caller: thanks. i would like to speak about the debt seiling. that needs to be approved. after that, we can talk about cuts. , there was a prominent industry and we were building all kinds of machinery. the japanese to make the machine parts cheaper and subsequently congress did not give the capital gains tax a

good look and all these companies went under here in the country in favor of building the equipment in japan. this has not changed whatsoever as far as spending. it is all about these subcontractors and the exorbitant amount of money for subcontracting that the military does, for instance providing things for the military and they could make the meal for something like 80 cents. this was reported on in "the new york times" a few years ago. we subcontract that out or cheaper than that. tax credits to companies. they want all of these tax revenues, subsidies, everything. they should have to promise that if they build in this township, county, state, that they should stay for x number of years and

if not pay a penalty. they deliver their prompt out and then they move overseas. -- they deliver their product. host: on twitter. more on open phones this morning. bakersfield, calif., democratic caller. caller: i just want to comment on the social security. the congressmen, senators, all of these talking about cutting entitlements the social security and i'm 85 years old. i started paying in when i was 15 years old working on the power line in west virginia. that is my home state. it is so corrupt, social

security. they need to get these doctors and lawyers off and encourage people to go one social security and disability. host: on twitter. james in new york, republican. caller: hello. presently i'm still waiting for insurance, which i pay a premium on, from 7sandy. fema is out of money and i think they will vote this morning to do ad to the people who'd premiums can get the money they deserve to fix their house. the people who did not have

insurance got paid right away. i know incidents where they did not even come out. the adjusters came to my house and inspected everything. i am waiting, waiting, and waiting. people with no insurance, they were just cut a check and it was in their bank in 48 hours. it is just very poor mismanagement. isotope i get my money sooner or later. -- i just hope i get my money. host: was the damage? caller: i live in a split level. my bottom floor it was flooded and had to be gutted. and then there was roof damage. i got my check last week for that. i'm in pretty good shape on that, but i suggest everyone

have a flood insurance and they should take care of the people who paid premiums instead of the people who do not have insurance. host: a programming note for all of you, a lot of people coming to washington ahead of the inauguration festivities. we will be covering the inauguration on c-span starting monday morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern, the swearing in, the luncheon, the inaugural parade. tune in starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern on monday, january 21st. we are in open phones this morning. here are some more headlines and the continued to take your phone calls. here is a small story reported today in "the washington post" from the associated press. secretary hillary clinton will testify before the house foreign affairs committee about the attack in benghazi. "the new york times"reporting

that marker rubio is trying to lead his party in overhauls to the immigration system.

also, the washington times" reporting evangelicals are calling for changes to the immigration laws. atlanta, georgia rep, in open phones. caller: i was thing he about the debt limit and the discussion about it. over the next four years, the only thing i would like to see is to set a standard on what the debt limit increase should be. 1% every four months, six months? said the increase because it's just going to keep rising and then there will be a discussion on the cuts. but you have a party in power for one term, four years or whatever, and then the next party comes in. all of this gridlock is creating uncertainty in the market and anxiety or people who receive social security benefits and the

things like that. the last comment, i would love to see changes in elections due to corruption. that is how i would change in how this country is being run. host: democratic caller from pennsylvania. caller: i'm glad people are getting together. this is the age of the internet. if we did our reenact glass- steagall, we will not have anything. 1989, at the end of the cold war we owed $4 trillion. russia is not a debtor nation. they just signed a $1 trillion gas bill with china. we have guests here in pennsylvania and now for 250 years.

we should tax all exported energy and that will help to pay the debt and the deficit. caller: mike, relates to the joblessness in the united states, perilous and taxation. i know a lot of listeners know about taxes. if the money is repatriated, they are again subject to the taxes in here. trillions of dollars it stay overseas for common sense just to avoid double taxation. we are the only country in the world who doesn't. maybe if we alter that particular thing we would increase the pot of taxable money and it would have something to increase the united

states. it is crazy to get taxed twice. host: on the debt ceiling debate, what is likely or what is being talked about? "the new york times" this morning. congress could move to block an increase.

dave, st. petersburg, fla. caller: the above office as the president has to uphold the laws of the congress, then why don't they make a new law that say millionaires that pass away should have to pay a death tax? take the money of those social

security for the general fund. host: sam in kentucky. your thoughts? caller: they should eliminate the debt ceiling, i think. social security, they should cut defense. they took down a bunch of social security to spend it on this and now they're trying to cut social security again. another thing, if i was obama and of little group of republicans that will not sign a thing or put nothing into law, i would sue them. that's what i would do. they are not doing their job. host: obama opposing cuts the gop won. -- wants. republican caller, frank. caller: i have a comment about

the government having enough money already. we do not need to increase the debt ceiling. farmer federal government accounted. they're giving in the smoke and mirrors about the federal debt ceiling. we do not need to raise it. there has not been a budget passed by the democrats which locks us in to the last approve the budget via the cra, continuing resolution authority. the game they are planning --

playing isn't really helping out all. it is a back breaker in terms of expense and a lot of people don't realize just how much it's costing. there was a lot of lives involved in the passage. quite honestly, we need more professional-type management making these decisions because the politicians are not doing the job. host: we're talking about the big policy debates happening in washington in getting your take care this morning. we have about 10 minutes left. on twitter. in ohio, what do you think? caller: i think a few things. brian lam to get the medal of

honor for two reasons. people always call in and say, thank you for c-span. he had the great taste in hiring gorgeous women for c-span. i love the guys, but have to remember -- say i love the ladies. paul krugman was on a panel discussing world economics. he started his presentation by saying -- oh, there's a delay. greta, ou look gorgeous. paul krugman started his dissertation at the beginning of the panel discussion by saying very powerfully, everything we are about to say here today about economics and every other issue that callers are calling about this morning, every single

one of them is moot if we destroy our planet. yesterday on pbs public radio, the story of north carolina, interviewing young man who went around looking at what was happening in tar sands excavation in canada. i have heard the amount of oil we have in north dakota and canada is equal to the amount we have burned in saudi arabia in all of history. if we continue this, the debt ceiling, the economy, jobs, everything is moot if we destroy the planet we live on. if we don't do something about climate change, only one time during the last election was climate change even mentioned. the elephants in the room is what is happening. we're going to see droughts,

food shortages, water problems, and this wild whether we are having. 350.org. bill mccann been has been focused on this for a long time. the american people need to be aware of what is happening with our climate worldwide. host: on twitter. philippe in ohio, democratic caller. what's on your mind? caller: and calling in the reference to raising social security, medicare, medicaid. it is irritating that the republican senators and congressmen are now working its physical job for a living. they have aids underneath them

doing a lot of the work. you have a lot of them working in his jobs were if you raise the age to work any longer, they are going to end up on disability. i do not think people who have worked in it -- who have not worked in a physical job realize that. i am 59 and retired, but if other people had to do what i did until 65-66, i would be disabled. they should not take the lobbyist money from hospitals, doctors, and lower those costs. they could stick by the guidelines they have now. people who do not do physical work for a living are trying to make people work harder. host: the supreme court yesterday, this is the hyatt -- the headline in "usa today."

howard in missouri, republican caller. caller: i'm 73 and i have been watching this fight on the middle class for a long time. is started with reaganomics. if you do not of the middle class back to work, you will not

have any social security. you but did little class to worked -- you put the middle class to work and it will pay for itself. this is absolutely terrible. the iraqi war should not have been started in the first place. the american people should wake up and vote these people out of office. you're starting this world order crap. host: what you make of this headline this morning. "afghans fear a civil war if all u.s. troops depart." caller: they should take care of their own country. i do not think our grandson's should shed a drop of blood over this. if that war over there is for

corporate greed, they are rebuilding the country, they should rebuild this back up. host: in other related news, in "the washington post." a record high of 349 suicides. open phones for a kamenetz until the house of representatives will be -- few more minutes and then the house of representatives of the coming in to debate a bill for the victims of hurricane sandy. amendments have been ruled in order and you will see votes on that as well. in washington, you are up next. caller: we, as the united states, i think we always start out the top instead of the bottom. we try to work down. we should let the media,

televisions, everything with getting back to parents teaching their children right from wrong and against -- and get brownies eating brownies in a sexual way. what are we teaching them? they need to know right from wrong. get some values back and it might cut down some of the violence to get to this gun control i think rules are fine, but let's start reprogramming the minds of our children. it's all about brainwashing. let the media with the this and people will jump on the train. let's start out with values. host: